Iowa tech firms weather economic storm

While the economy has forced several Iowa businesses to look at layoffs, leaders in the information technology industry say they’re weathering the economic downturn. Mike Lang is the C-E-O of Alliance Technologies and on the Technology Association of Iowa board of directors. Lang says the technology sector is fairing very well, as they have the benefit of serving all other industries, so they are diversified and can manage in the downturn.

Lang says there are some areas of the technology sector that are struggling. He says companies that support the auto and financial industry are down, but overall he says the majority of the technology services and software companies are supporting a variety of industries. Lang says one of the problems for the tech companies has been keeping qualified graduates in the state.

He says they also compete against large companies that have their own I-T departments — but the downturn in the economy has be a benefit of sorts. Lang says right now the larger firms aren’t doing a lot of hiring, and some are cutting employees, so he says it’s probably the best it has been in years when it comes to finding quality employees. Lang says the business clients he talks with aren’t sure how long this economic downturn might last.

He says the business leaders are in a "wait and see" mentality, as the one thing they agree on is it’s going to be an up and down market in the near future, and no one can predict when it might turn around for good. Lang says though, Iowa’s businesses appear to be in better shape than those in other states when it comes to handling the downturn.